Question regarding dusting and amounts

[massoudjeff]

So I've tried finding the answer to this question before this post but I have had Pascal my male Veiled for just about a month now, he's doing great and has shed twice since I've owned him, the question I have is that he normally eats between 15-20 1/4 in - 1/2 in crickets daily and some days as a treat I'll thrown in around 10-15 small to medium Phoenix Worms or 1-2 Black Soldier Flies if they've transformed into them. The question I have is regarding dusting with calcium with no D3. Should I be dusting ALL of the crickets that I feed him or should it only be a few of the ones I thrown in his cage. He mostly is a free roaming feeder where I'll leave the crickets in the cage and he'll hunt for them, but he also knows where his cup is and knows that their is food in there too. So I was wondering how many should I be coating with the calcium w/o d3 and so on and so forth for the rest of his dusting schedule I have.

 

[pigglett79]

You should dust all of the crickets.

 

[massoudjeff]

even with the amount the he gets fed on a daily basis? I've noticed twice that he's had white deposits on his nostrils is that from over calcium intake from the worms and the dusting, I just don't want to over do it with the calcium supplementation for him either ya know.

 

[massoudjeff]

So just to clarify im not going to give him a calcium overdose if i dust EVERY cricket i normally feed him i just dont want to hurt him

 

[deerharvester]

No you won't. The calcium to phosphorus ratio is very skewed. So, we use gutloading and dusting to even it out. Hope that helps you, you can find the exact nutritional facts of feeders if you search around.

Scott

 

[massoudjeff]

Yea i mean i gutload the crickets with collard greens and mustard greens and flukers orange cubes along with the blue flukers quencher for their water source i have the orange quencer with calcium but havent used that as much lately but i originally just dusted around 5-8 crickets before so i just wanted to be sure i wasnt hurting him

 

[xraygirl]

Yea i mean i gutload the crickets with collard greens and mustard greens and flukers orange cubes along with the blue flukers quencher for their water source i have the orange quencer with calcium but havent used that as much lately but i originally just dusted around 5-8 crickets before so i just wanted to be sure i wasnt hurting him

Ditch that flukers stuff and the quencher stuff. Feed your crickets a nice variety veggies and fruits and that'll be all the hydration they need.
Make sure your not 'caking' the crickets with calcium.

 

[massoudjeff]

Ok im just trying to find the best combo to feed them to keep them all alive and healthy lol my house is normally dry i wish i could see pictures of the best way to keep the crickets with their food in their little home lol

 

[fleetwoodchams]

So just to clarify im not going to give him a calcium overdose if i dust EVERY cricket i normally feed him i just dont want to hurt him

No, most of it brushes off of the crickets before he gets to them , especially if they get misted . Also calcium w/ D3 is OK every 2 weeks if your chams don't get outside in natural sunlight a lot. The D3 helps to metabolize the calcium in animals under artificial UVB lights

 

[fleetwoodchams]

Ditch that flukers stuff and the quencher stuff. Feed your crickets a nice variety veggies and fruits and that'll be all the hydration they need.
Make sure your not 'caking' the crickets with calcium.

Here Here, xraygirl
Give your crickets dark green veg ( kale, collard greens,beet tops etc) carrots, mango or other fruit. Bananas are a great to gutload too. I have even given fresh cracked coconut for vit/min content. Just remove the wet uneaten foods so they don't foul your cricket container.What ever they eat your chams will be eating, remember that. Do you think your chams will be healthier on processed cubes or nice fresh foods?

 

[massoudjeff]

yea I'm doing calcium no phosphorus every feeding, calcium with d3 once every two weeks cuz I live outside of Boston so he's not going outside anytime soon especially with this snow tonight but I'm doing a Multivitamin once a month so far I mean when I get home i'll post pictures of him, his home and maybe I could get a guestimate of his age to see if I'm doing everything the best I can. It's technically my daughters pet and we already lost one due to Feline stress (cat got really curious before) so I don't want to lose another I know he's just starting to show some of his coloration patterns but they're all dark no yellows or anything yet so he's fairly young.

 

[mrgreen22]

Ditch that flukers stuff and the quencher stuff. Feed your crickets a nice variety veggies and fruits and that'll be all the hydration they need.
Make sure your not 'caking' the crickets with calcium.

Agree! all natural is the only way to go. Your feeders and cham will be happy and healthy!

 

[massoudjeff]

so what kind of fruits are good anything that's bad too will be helpful and once again thanks for all the valued input in helping me out

 

[xraygirl]

Read through some of Sandra's blogs https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/

It's my go-to for gut loading with what fruits/veggies/other supplements as well as other awesome information!